The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published. Daily. MONDAY, NOV. 12, 1894. THE STATE OF TRADE.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 116, 12 November 1894, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published. Daily. MONDAY, NOV. 12, 1894. THE STATE OF TRADE.

*. In a conjprahen&ive article on the subject the New Zealand Trade Review poiuts out that the trade returns for the colony for the September quarter tell throughout a consistent tale of contraction. Tho decreases are in imports £301,950, exports £74,051, and customs revenue £38,---825. The bank returns also exhibit, a shrinkage of advauces and note circulation. Our contemporary says : — Tho falliug off in the values of our exports is particularly striking. One of our tables gives the values of the several classes of goods exported, in which we find that as compared with 1892-3 our shipments of Colonial produce show a foiling off of £289,305 for the year. Tho principal items of decline are cereals, kauri gum, and hemp, which together ate responsible for a shrinkage of over £600,000, This decline is swelled to about £720,000 by minor shrinkages in gold, meats, rabbitskins, sheepskins, potatoes, grass seed, and other New Zealand produce. Against these are to be set an increase of about £307.000 in wool, £58,000 in butter and cheese, and about £G6,000 divided among live stock, tallow, timber, coal, hides and leather, sausage ekins, beans and pens, and woollen goods, leaving the net shrinkage stated above. Such a heavy falling-off in the values of exports must imply a serious reduction in the colony's purchasing power, rendering a decline iv imports a matter of little surprise. The reduction in the year 1 893— 1, however, it will be seen by the above figures, occurs almost entirely in the last quarter, a fact which seems to point to some special reasou for a sudden drop. We believe tho main cause of this general shrinkage is the low price of products. In some cases this has gone to such an extent as to stop or greatly diminish production, as in the cases of hemp and « heat, and beyond this it of course reduces the volumo of value of what is produced and ex ported It also has the effect in all cases of discouraging expenditure by those in a position to expend money in improvements and extotision of the basis of production. It is unfortu nate that at this particular juncture special land taxation and other legislation in respect of land shou d bring in a further element of distrust and discouragement hindering the in vestment of money by landed pro prietors. At the same time we c,r~r free to admit that, if a suhstixni/ial advance were to r.ceur in the price. 1 / of produce it is quite possible that ilia prospect of profit would load to enter prise and activity in spite of other circumstances. Recent bank pressure has no doubt had its share in contracting operations especially in our imports. As regards the future w» are unable to discerp much augury of better things. It is true that there is every prospect of an easier money market, but this is not, we think, likely to produce much benefit unless accompanied by enhanced prices and a sense of security and stability, or at least one of these conditions.